ABSTRACT
The histomorphometric and microscopy methods for the analysis of bone described are directed at the determination of the ‘quality’ of the bony tissue rather than its quantity since the latter can be measured by non-invasive and less time-consuming/labour-intensive means. The loss of whole trabeculae apparently effects the elastic modulus more than does their generalized thinning and there are many recent histomorphometric investigations of the structural significance of reduced trabecular interconnection. By modelling cycles of cancellous thinning and thickening in which connectivity was allowed to vary in some cycles and not in others, J. H. Kinney and A. J. C. Ladd reported a direct linear relationship between connectivity and the elastic modulus. The extent to which bone ‘quality’ contributes to the biomechanical performance of the skeleton independent of its mass is debated and there is a natural tendency to underestimate a tissue whose most characteristic feature seems superficially akin to that of a geological rock.
